News tagged ‘mobile’

According to the KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is planning to launch the iPad 5 and iPad mini in the last quarter of 2013. Apart from that, Kuo thinks we should expect the arrival of something like a ‘lower cost iPad mini’ in 2014.

Spotify app for iOS was updated with a bunch of new features, namely, a new way to browse music, new languages (Thai, Turkish, Brazilian Portuguese, Malay and Greek) and bug fixes. As usual, you may either listen to music for free or upgrade to Spotify Premium and get unlimited access to the Spotify library. The premium account also gives you the opportunity to sync your favorite playlists to your iPhone - to have all the music you like close at hand.

The latest report from NetApplications shows that Apple’s mobile web share has fallen 11% in the last 12 months. The main reason for such fall is probably the mass production of cheap Android smartphones and tablets that become more and more popular in Europe and Asia. Looks like things aren’t so good for the company from Cupertino.

According to survey results released Sunday, iOS' share of Web usage hit an all-time low of 54.9% in August, down 11 percentage points (16.7%) from the 65.9% it held in August 2012. Android, meanwhile, surged to 28.1% from 21% last year, up 7.1 points (34.3%).

Anyway, there’re still some chances for Apple to get out of serious troubles. Yes, I’m now talking about the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C releases as well as about the two new iPads, which are expected to be unveiled this fall.

Apple has blocked AppleCare employee vacations between September 15th and September 28th due to the launch of iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C and iOS 7 release, AppleInsider reports. The news came after the information that the biggest U.S. carriers - T-Mobile and Verizon - have cancelled the vacations for their retail staff.

According to 9to5Mac, Verizon prohibiting employees to go on vacation between September 18th-22nd. This is exactly the period between rumored iPhone 5S release to be held on September 20th.

As Apple’s September 10th iPhone unveiling approaches, we’ve heard that Verizon Wireless is blocking its retail employees from requesting vacations between Wednesday, September 18th and Sunday, September 22nd. Based on Apple historically shipping new versions of the iPhone about a week and half following the unveiling, it would make sense for the new iPhones to arrive for customers on Friday, September 20th.

Moreover, Verizon is rumored to have little stocks of the 32GB and 64GB iPhone 5 models. So we may assume that the carrier is expecting the launch of new generation of devices. Walmart has also decreased the price of the iPhone 5 to $98 with Verizon contract.Read the rest of this entry »

According to TmoNews, T-Mobile is blacking out three days - Friday, September, 20th, Saturday, September, 21st and Sunday, September, 22nd - as dates, when its retail workers can’t take vacations. Quite obviously, the reason for such a decision is the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C launch that is expected to take place on September, 10th.

TechCrunch reports that Apple executives are visiting Russia to talk about Phone sales.

Although Apple has yet to confirm what iPhone handsets it will launch next, the meetings are a sign of how Apple may be preparing to launch new, possibly cheaper devices, to revisit a market that has seen demand for its products, but also one where it has faced challenges working with carriers, the presence of a crazily-priced grey market and, according to eager distributors, short supply issues that do not meet demand.

Apple will be sending its top executives to have a meeting with retailers in Russia. No details of the topics to be discussed are known.

According to the latest rumors, Japan’s largest wireless carrier called NTT DoCoMo is currently in talks with Apple to sell its iPhone starting this year. Bloomberg reports that when the rumors about possible agreement between the company from Cupertino and DoCoMo appeared, shares of the latter one began to rise. The two main rivals of the Japanese mobile operator, namely, KDDI and Softbank, both carry the iPhone, so it’s high time NTT DoCoMo ended talks with Apple successfully.

Jessica Lessin, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, claims that the company from Cupertino has recently acquired another firm, which can possibly help to improve Apple’s Maps application. This time its Embark - a small outfit that works on apps for navigating mass transit.

According to recent reports, the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C are sure to arrive in Greece and Japan on September 20th.

Nikkei was the first to write about it, "It is expected for the new iPhone Apple is developing, be on Friday the 20th September release date in Japan. Formal presentation is scheduled to be held in San Francisco on the 10th as previously reported. You can guess from the pattern of the past and their own interviews with domestic mobile phone company, likely to be the release of the next weekend high in Japan."

Ciccarese Design has preented their concept for an Apple iWatch. It will boast the flexible display and feature the slap bracelet design patented by Apple.

In our shell from the futuristic design, we enclosed ideally, the latest version of the operating system for mobile devices iOS7. We have also started prototyping and we have already made the first two copies, one white and the other black, to verify the ergonomics as well as the attractiveness of the object when worn.

Showing the pictures and the mockups to many people, we are collecting a lot of feedbacks and most of them said that it is cool, it has a look never seen before and is very fashion on top of all the tech features that will be available.

According to recent rumors, Apple is hiring iWatch engineers and designers. The most talked-of pick up is Jay Blahnik, a fitness expert and Nike+ Fuelband consultant.